Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Recently, First Stop News composed an online survey on the online chat website, Omegle, to find the general public's opinion on gay marriage.

Using the spy/question mode on the site, (which enables 1 user to ask 2 other strangers a question) we asked 76 strangers from all over the world on their opinion on gay marriage, and we informed that they may be quoted, here on First Stop News.

Out of the 76 people asked, 14 people said that they opposed gay marriage, meaning that about 18% of the people we asked do not support gay marriage, while 82% do support it.

We gathered several quotes from the people surveyed. Please note that we will keep the quotes anonymous, due to security and safety issues.

Many of the statements that people replied to our question with were extremely disturbing.

"Gays should be burned in a fire, like witches," said one opposer of gay marriage.

"Gay marriage should be held at a gas chamber!" said another opposer, "Gosh darn no good queers!"

While some statements were disturbing, others were enlightening.

"I mean, I'd love to get married some day, possibly."

"Yes, please legalize it! I want to marry my girlfriend."

A surprisingly large amount of people supported gay marriage, with an even more surprising amount of people asked in the survey being openly gay. 5% of people asked in the survey said that they were openly gay.

"I'm gay, so I love it," said one person who was asked in our survey, "I want to have the right to marry, just as everyone else does. I get so much shit everyday for something I can't help. You have no idea what it's like to be hated by society."

"I think that the reason that, when we did this survey, it was so surprising that 82% of people supported gay marriage, is because the support is not reflected in our society, today. Currently, just 7 U.S. states allow gay marriage, meaning that only 14% of states allow gay marriage. The legalization of gay marriage is absolutely, without-a-doubt warranted, after seeing all these people approve of same-sex marriage today, with this survey. What I'm trying to say is, if same-sex marriage is supported by so many people, why is it illegal in so many places?", said First Stop News E.I.C., Tamara Samuels during a staff meeting today, in New York.

Currently, same-sex marriage is performed in a mere 10 countries; Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden. Same-sex marriage is only performed in a few other jurisdictions - Mexico City, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont.

Homosexuality is punishable by death penalty in Sudan, Mauritania, Iran, and Yemen. It is punishable by either up to a life in prison or by heavy punishments in most areas of Africa, and by several areas in the Middle East.

"I like it. I totally agree. They're humans too. Why can't they get married? You can't help who you fall in love with, and no one has the right to say who you can spend your life with. It's your own decision and I don't see the big problem in it," said an anonymous supporter in our survey.

"I personally believe in gay marriage, but I think the US is going about legalizing it in all the wrong ways. It's being legalized state by state. What ever happened to separation of church and state? I think it should be legal everywhere in the country, but if a church feels that it is immoral to preform a marriage ceremony for a gay couple, they shouldn't have to," said another supporter.

"It's horrible. It's only good for population control. But, I respect everyone's views. It's a controversial thing. Politicians only support it for votes and money," said an opposer.

"People should be able to marry who they love. No matter what," said a supporter, "It isn't our life that is being impacted, it's theirs."

"I just would not like it called marriage or related to religion in anyway," said an opposer.

One certain individual was against both heterosexual and homosexual marriages, saying, "Well, I oppose it. But, I also oppose heterosexual marriage. More specifically, I oppose the government having anything to do with it."

Earlier this month, current United States President, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to publicly declare his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

"Marriage is a civil contract, between two people," said a supporter, "When you look at a family member, you don't say, 'I love them because of their gender', because you don't. You love them for who they are on the inside, so why should it be any different for marriage?"

"It's really just two people who love each other making a commitment to each other," said a supporter...

Monday, May 14, 2012

After months of negotiations, speculation, and reports, Fox has officially confirmed that international superstar Britney Spears, along with former-Disney princess, Demi Lovato of Sonny with a Chance and Camp Rock fame will join the 4-person judging panel, for the second season of the U.S. version of The X Factor, which aired it's first season from September 21, 2011 to December 22, 2011 on Fox.

Spears, 30, and Lovato, 19, will be the replacements for former U.S. X Factor hosts, Nicole Scherzinger, the former lead of The Pussycat Dolls, and Paula Abdul, who also co-judged American Idol along with Simon Cowell (the creator of X Factor) up until Abdul's departure in 2009 and Cowell's departure in 2010. Scherzinger and Abdul were let go from their judging duties on X Factor, earlier this year.

Up until this official announcement, several names had been tossed around regarding who would take the remaining 2 places on the judging panel, including Avril Lavigne, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, and up until her unfortunate February 2012 death, Whitney Houston. Of course, the remaining 2 judging seats will be occupied by Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid. Reid serves as the current head of Epic Records - an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment.

During Fox's upfront presentation in New York City, on Monday, the judging panel all appeared to announce the 2 new judges and to promote the second season.

"I couldn't be more excited to join The X Factor juding panel. I'm a huge fan of the show and now I get to be a part of the action," Spears said during the annual presentation, "I'm ready to find the next true star."

Lovato, who just completed her Special Night with Demi Lovato tour earlier this month, which had stops in the U.S., Mexico, and Central & South America, said during the upfront presentation, "I'm totally stoked to be here, [and to] represent my generation and find the winner!". Lovato will kick off her Summer Tour in Del Mar, California on June 12, 2012. Her Summer-long tour isn't expected to mess up her judging duties.

Simon Cowell showed appreciation, approval, and excitement with the new judging panel.

Spears will reportedly rake in a cool $16 million to judge the second season of the hit singing competition show. Since the second season will contain approximately 26 episodes, that equals out to about $615,000 per episode. It is unknown how much Lovato will earn from the show.

No word yet on who will replace former X Factor host, Steve Jones - who was fired from his position as host in January. X Factor U.S. is scheduled to begin auditions in Austin, Texas on May 24, 2012.

The United Kingdom counterpart of The X Factor is expected to return for it's ninth season in August 2012, however will not feature Cowell as a judge.

The second season of The X Factor U.S. will premiere in September 2012.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Tonight is the finale of the 24th season of Survivor, this season billed "Survivor: One World".

Just moments ago, Alicia's voting off was aired on CBS. Now, the final four contestants are preparing to plead their case to the jury in hopes to win the $1 million prize, and the title of Sole Survivor.

With only four contestants - Christina Cha, Chelsea Meissner, Kim Spradlin, and Sabrina Thompson left, we're making our final predictions for the placement of the contestants.

The live portion of the finale is expected to begin at 10 pm, when the official winner will be announced. As the show progresses, we will post the episode's progress here on First Stop News.

9:08 pm EST Update: Kim Spradlin has just won the final immunity challenge of the season, securing her a guaranteed spot in the Final 3. Chelsea Meissner, Christina Cha, and Sabrina Thompson will be taking place in the second last Tribal Council of the season, with Kim safe from Tribal Council.

9:20 pm EST Update: Christina Cha has just been voted off in a 3-1 vote. (Chelsea, Sabrina, and Kim all voted for Christina, while Christina voted for Sabrina) The Final 3 will now enter their final day in the South Pacific, and will plead their case to the 9-person jury of why they should be awarded $1 million and the title of the Sole Survivor. My prediction for the winner remains Sabrina.

9:54 pm EST Upate: The contestants have pled their case and the jury will begin voting or the Sole Survivor after the commercial break. The live show will begin in approximately 6 minutes.

10:04 pm EST Update: Kim Spradlin has just received the title of Sole Survivor and the prize of $1 million. Sabrina Thompson finished in second place, with Chelsea Meissner finishing in third place. Kim was named the winner in a 7-2-0 vote. (Kim got 7 votes, Sabrina got 2 votes, and Chelsea got 0 votes) The season finale aired live from New York City.

Thanks for following our predictions of the finale, we hope to see you back in December for the finale of the 25th season! Thanks, and have a great summer!

Friday, May 4, 2012

According to several, possibly unreliable sources through out the internet, English singer-songwriter, best known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye, My Lover", has died at the age of 38 in Los Angeles.

According to Benkling.com, Blunt died Thursday after being rushed from his L.A. home after suffering a cardiac arrest. The Benkling article appears to be a copy-and-paste from a CNN Entertainment division, but the article is not visible anywhere on CNN's website, which has sparked controversy over the internet over Blunt's state.

At First Stop News, we would like to confirm that, as well as we know, James Blunt is NOT dead.

While many have likely not recalled of Blunt since his 2005 release of "Goodbye My Lover" - the fourth and final single off his debut album Back to Bedlam, Blunt has continued to stay some-what on the music scene, releasing his sophomore and junior albums All the Lost Souls and Some Kind of Trouble; the first of which was released in September 2007, and the latter in November 2010. He released a live album, Trouble Revisited in December 2011. Blunt even earned himself a Regenbogen Award in 2011.

As James Blunt's death has failed to appear on CNN, TMZ, the Associated Press, Reuters, or any other 100% reliable news source, James Blunt is not dead. He is 38, and as far as we know, happy and healthy.